MEDICAL, PENSION FUNDS FOR CIVILIANS DECREASING WHILE MILITARY PERSONNEL GETBIGGER FUNDS; GMA SECURING SUPPORT OF THE MILITARY TO PRE-EMPT ANY MOREMAGDALO-TYPE UPRISINGS - REP. BELTRAN

Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran today decried the national government'sdecreasing allocation of funds for the medical funds of civilian employees. Thisitem is almost being erased from the proposed 2005 budget appropriations,decreasing a shocking 95.5%, from Php. 243.94M it will be reduced to P11M.

In the Macapagal-Arroyo administration's proposed 2005 GAA, there is massiveinequality between the allocations for personnel expenses for civiliangovernment employees compared to uniformed employees, particularly referring tomembers of the military, Only P193.39B is being allocated for the 1.4M civilianemployees, while Php 139.76B is going to be put aside for only 200,000 or somembers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It's also noticeable thatthere's a significant difference between the pension funds for civilianpersonnel and uniformed personnel. Only Php314M is being allotted for theformer, while the latter will be getting a significantly bigger pension fund.

"There's a hollow core in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's call forbelt-tightening and scrimping. Analyzing the items in the proposed 2005 budget,it's evident whom she expects to make the sacrifices and whom will continue tobenefit despite the fiscal crisis. The military and its personnel, it's clear,need not to fear any cutbacks in their salaries and benefits, and they willcontinue to receive among the biggest chunks in the budgetary pie," he said.

"It seems that the Arroyo administration is determined to discourage andpre-empt any more Magdalo-type uprisings from the military by upping militarypersonnel's perks and benefits. It will be remembered that among the complaintsaired by the Magdalo men was the government's neglect of the welfare of ordinarysoldiers and other military personnel," he added.

The veteran labor leader also said that it was noticeable that interest paymentsfor debt servicing will eat up Php 301.7B or 31.5% of the over-all budget for2005. There is an increase here of Php 30.2B o 11.1% compared to last year.This still does not include the P344.B for the principal amortization, which isan off-budget item or a fund that that does not need to go through the approvalprocess of Congress. Compared to 2004's amount, the allocation for 2005 hasincreased by P34.3B o 11.1%.

He also noted the administration's determination to privatize housing services.Allocations for housing and community development infrastructure has increasedby Php 70M or, 5.6%; but the actual budget for housing and communitydevelopment agencies have shrunk by P58M.

This, Beltran said, implies steep cutbacks in the allocations for personnelservices in the housing agencies as the government gears towards fullyprivatizing housing services and putting together the Department of UrbanHousing and Development (DHUD) which is intended to supervise the profiteeringagenda of the government when it comes to providing housing for the public.

In summary, Php 645.8B or 51.6% of the overall expenditures of the nationalgovernment will be given over to debt payments. This increased by P70.2B or12.2% from P575.6B last year. Allocations for social services increased only byP6.4B or 2.6% ; while the budget for economic services was hiked only by P3.6Bor 2.3%. If the 4-5% target inflation of the government for 2004-2005 isconsidered, this amount isn't sufficient to meet the target.#